The American Psychological Association provides the electronic mailing lists for MPA, other state associations, and to APA Divisions without charge as a public service. In other words, the MPAGS listserv is "hosted" on APA 501(c)3 tax-exempt servers. As such, MPA and all participants must adhere to APA’s specific guidelines in order to remain a part of these services, particularly as applies to posting advertising, full-text articles, political endorsements, and discussions not appropriate to the tax-exempt status. This may be different from your experience with other listservs that have a different tax status.
The MPAGS forum is available only to MPAGS members of the Maryland Psychological Association. Participation is a privilege, not a right. Participants may be removed from the list under certain circumstances as described below. The MPA Executive Director is responsible for the enforcement of list policies.
To Unsubscribe:
If you wish to resign or unsubscribe from the list, DO NOT SEND YOUR RESIGNATION TO THE WHOLE LIST. To unsubscribe,
1) send a message to listserv@lists.apa.org. Use no subject line.
Your message in the body of the e-mail should say only:
Signoff mpastudents
The Rules:
Rules and Standards of the MPAGS Listserv: In subscribing to this forum, and especially if you send messages to the forum, you are agreeing to four rules.
Rule 1: Do not use the forum for illegal purposes, including but not limited to defamation of character, violation of intellectual property laws, violation of antitrust or unfair competition laws, violation of criminal laws, or infringement of copyright laws. Sending an entire article to the listserv without the permission of the author or publisher results in a prima facie case of copyright violation. A synopsis of the article may be given and a link may be made to the original site.
Rule 2: Do not intentionally interfere with or disrupt other list members, network services, or network equipment. This includes distribution of unsolicited advertisement or chain letters, propagation of computer worms and viruses, and use of the network to make unauthorized entry to any other machine accessible via the Forum. CONTACT THE MPA WEBMASTER IF YOU HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT A VIRUS OR WORM (webmaster@marylandpsychology.org).
Rule 3: Do not use the Forum for commercial purposes such as advertising services as a consultant, available positions in your practice or another private/public setting, available office space, or posting a full ad for CEU/supervision opportunities. (MPA has a place for advertising on its website and in the MPA newsletter.)
Rule 4: Do not use the listserv to support in any way electioneering, soliciting funds, or the endorsement of a candidate for federal, state, or local political office.
If you break these rules then you will be unsubscribed using the procedure outlined below because these rules govern the very heart of our arrangements with our service provider.
Email discussion groups run more smoothly when users follow basic netiquette rules. Below is a compilation of some common rules that most well functioning groups use. By following these standards and rules, you will contribute to a climate of trust and collegiality that encourages friendly, informed, yet informal, discourse.
1. When you first join the list, you may wish to just watch for a while before you jump in with a question or comment. Or you may wish to send a message introducing yourself. If so, tell us your name, your affiliation and your interests. Use the following address for this and all subsequent messages you would like to send to the whole list:
mpastudents@lists.apa.org
2. Sign each message and include your email address. The header or the signature message on your email may do this for you. However, if you share an email account, be sure **you** are identified, at least by your signature at the end of your message.
3. Keep your messages constructive, courteous, and brief.
4. Send personal messages (e.g., "I'll see you at lunch") backchannel to the intended reader, not to the whole list.
5. **Always** check the address line before sending your message. With some
email programs, it is easy to send a message to the whole group by mistake when you think you are replying to an individual. Besides cluttering everyone's mailbox, this could be very embarrassing or even damaging to you or someone else.
6. If you are replying to another's message, include only the essential information from the previous message. When possible, put your reply at the start of the message so that readers do not have to scroll past repeated information to get the current message.
7. Be supportive of fellow list members. As discussion gets going furiously on some topic, don't forget that some people on the list don't know you are a sweetheart under that sarcastic growl! Keep it cool.
8. Be sure your subject heading reflects the content of your message.
Sometimes when a thread develops, the main content changes. If you continue to use the original subject heading, others may be confused as to the current content of the message.
9. Use copyrighted material only with permission.
By following these rules and standards, a climate will be created that encourages trust, collegiality and friendly, informative and spontaneous discourse.
Listserv Violation Policy:
Failure to adhere to the rules may result in your removal from the list. The process for removal from the list is as follows:
1. A warning (via email) will be sent to the violator with a reminder of the rules and explanation of the violation.
2. If the member continues to violate the rules of the list, MPA’s Executive Director will send the member a second warning. The member will be informed of the nature of the violation(s) and will be informed that a third violation will result in suspension from the forum for six months.
3. A third violation will result in the member being suspended from the list for six months.
After a person has been suspended from a listserv for six months that person may be eligible to resubscribe to the list. A reapplication for listserv privileges will be made to the list administrator. Reapplication does not guarantee immediate reinstatement. If reinstated, prior offenses will be disregarded and the violation procedure will start again. If not reinstated, the rational for the decision will be sent to the member. Decisions not to reinstate a member shall be reviewed and approved by the Executive Council prior to notification to the member. In egregious cases, MPA’s Executive Director can immediately suspend the violator.
Please let MPA's Executive Director know if you have any questions or comments.
Judith DeVito
Executive Officer
Maryland Psychological Association
exec@marylandpsychology.org
410-992-4258
A fuller explanation of some of the Legal Risks of APA-hosted Listserv use are described by Nathalie F. P. Gilfoyle, General Counsel, American Psychological Association:
It is amazing to think that 10 years ago it was rare to meet someone who participated in an electronic listserv. Today listservs are the means of choice for people across the country and around the world to discuss issues of common interest. This is particularly true in a professional association like APA where knowledge is highly valued and lively debate is welcome.
Lists or listservs have many positive attributes and can serve the interests of furthering organizations’ purposes in myriad ways. But because this article is being written by APA legal counsel you probably know that it will highlight some of the pitfalls that can ensnare the unwary in list discussions. So here are a few of the top trouble areas and some guidance on how List Administrators and List members can avoid problems.
1. Copyright -- Not infrequently a list member wants to tell others about an article or news item related to the issues discussed on the List. It may surprise you to learn that sending the entire article to the list, without the permission of the author or publisher, results in a prima facie case of copyright violation. While there can be defenses to a claim of copyright infringement where the purpose of copying is clearly not for commercial purposes (e.g. “fair use” or academic teaching exceptions), those defenses are complicated, have been construed differently in different jurisdictions and are not necessarily applicable to listserv distribution. It's okay to provide a brief quote from the copyrighted material or to provide a link to the story if it is published electronically but it is best to refrain from posting an entire item to the List.
2. Defamation -- Sometimes a robust debate about ideas spills over into ad hominem attacks on the proponents or opponents of the ideas. List members need to be reminded that a false statement that harms someone's reputation can be actionable as libel. There is a substantial difference between disagreeing with how someone did their research or treated a patient and accusing the person of fraud or incompetence. Because negative statements that impugn someone's professional qualifications can cause substantial economic and emotional harm, this is an area for careful scrutiny. Keeping criticism on an objective basis that is factually verifiable and skipping personal commentary about character, competence or motive minimizes legal risk.
3. Antitrust concerns -- The antitrust laws are broad and complex but on a very basic level they operate to prohibit and even in some cases criminalize certain anticompetitive agreements between competitors. A professional association like APA is almost by definition a group of competitors that has come together to pursue common interests. Where those common interests involve agreements on such terms of competition as rates charged, salaries paid, standards applicable to members of the profession, and other issues of the marketplace, the antitrust laws apply. Listservs provide a written record of statements that can create an antitrust risk even when there is no anti-competitive intent. Thus for the protection of everyone discussions about rates charged in a given area, efforts to exert collective pressure on payors, terms of contracts with insurance companies, internship salaries, etc, all are prohibited.
4. Risks affecting tax exemption -- While using the list to endorse political candidates in a federal, state, or local election or for commercial purposes likely won't expose a member to personal legal risk, it can jeopardize APA's tax exempt status under section 501 (c) 3 of the Internal Revenue Code. To keep this advantageous tax status, APA cannot ever be involved in or support in any way electioneering or endorse a candidate for federal, state, or local political office. APA must assure that its activities are focused on the scientific, educative, and charitable purposes for which it gained tax-exempt status.
This list of legal risks is not exhaustive but List administrators who keep an eye on these areas should be in good shape. As always if you have doubt or questions contact any of us in the APA Office of General Counsel.
The resources (non-profit hardware servers, software, and technical assistance) for this effort are provided without charge by the American Psychological Association to the Maryland Psychological Association as a public service.
